INDEPENDENCE AND JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI ARCHIVAL MATERIALS AT THE LIBRARY Prepared by Dennis Bilger, Sondra Pena, and Randy Sowell (September 2004) [ Truman Papers | Other Personal Papers | Federal Records | Oral Histories]

The following files and collections at the Truman Library contain significant amounts of information relating to Independence and Jackson County, Missouri. Additional information relating to this topic can be found elsewhere in the Library's holdings. A subject guide to the Library's archival holdings relating to Kansas City is also available.

PAPERS PERTAINING TO FAMILY, BUSINESS AND PERSONAL AFFAIRS - Approximately 4000 pages. Includes letters written by Harry Truman from his farm in Grandview to Bess Wallace in Independence, Truman's school notebooks from Independence High School, and information concerning his early business ventures.

PAPERS AS PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI, COURT - Approximately 2000 pages. Contains documents relating to the administration of Jackson County government by Presiding Judge Harry S. Truman from 1927 to 1935.

PAPERS AS U.S. SENATOR AND VICE PRESIDENT - Approximately 100 pages. Includes Senator Truman's correspondence with Independence Mayor Roger T. Sermon and with Truman family members in Grandview.

PRESIDENT'S SECRETARY'S FILES - Approximately 1800 pages. Includes President Truman's correspondence with relatives in Independence and Grandview, the president of the Independence Chamber of Commerce, and the pastor of the Grandview Baptist Church.

WHITE HOUSE CENTRAL FILES

OFFICIAL FILE - Approximately 100 pages. OF 720 contains general information about Independence.

PRESIDENT'S PERSONAL FILE - Approximately 200 pages. There are relevant files on the Independence Examiner and the Independence Masonic Temple Association, Lions Club, Optimist Club, Rotary Club, and Garden Club, among others.

GENERAL FILE - Approximately 100 pages. Includes correspondence between the White House and residents of Independence and Jackson County.

POST-PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS - Approximately 20,000 pages. Contains Truman's post-1953 correspondence with his brother Vivian, his sister Mary Jane, his cousins Mary Ethel and Nellie Noland, and other relatives in Independence and Grandview, as well as information relating to Truman High School and the Truman Library in Independence.

[ Top of the Page ]

PERSONAL PAPERS AND ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS

NANCY BENTLEY PAPERS - Approximately 400 pages. Contains correspondence to Bentley from Mary Martha Truman, an aunt of Harry S. Truman who taught school in the Independence area during the late 1800s.

RUFUS BURRUS PAPERS - Approximately 30,000 pages. Includes documents relating to Burrus's activities as a Truman family friend and legal adviser, and as Assistant Jackson County Counselor from 1927 to 1941.

HARRY S. TRUMAN CENTENNIAL COLLECTION - Approximately 12,000 pages. Contains material on the commemoration of the centennial of Harry S. Truman's birth in 1984, which was marked by activities in Washington, D.C. as well as in Independence and Jackson County, Missouri.

HARRY S. TRUMAN LIBRARY, INC. RECORDS - Approximately 50,000 pages. Contains correspondence, financial records, and other material relating to the nonprofit organization that raised funds to build the Truman Library in Independence during the 1950s. HARRY S. TRUMAN STATUE COMMITTEE RECORDS - Approximately 1600 pages. Includes correspondence and financial records documenting the activities of the committee that supervised the creation of a statue of Harry S. Truman outside the Jackson County Courthouse in Independence.

INDEPENDENCE (MISSOURI) SCHOOL DISTRICT RECORDS - Approximately 400 pages. Consists of grade and attendance records from the Noland School in Independence, in which Harry S. Truman attended the first and second grades from 1892 to 1894.

MARY PAXTON KEELEY PAPERS - Approximately 800 pages. Keeley, a journalist and teacher, was a native of Independence and a lifelong friend of Bess Wallace Truman. Her papers include correspondence with Mrs. Truman and related material.

MARY ETHEL NOLAND PAPERS - Approximately 5600 pages. Contains correspondence with Harry S. Truman and other members of the Truman family, as well as genealogical information. Noland was Truman's cousin and longtime neighbor in Independence.

CHARLES G. ROSS PAPERS - Approximately 3200 pages. Includes material relating to Ross's early life in Independence. A high school classmate of Harry Truman and Bess Wallace, he later served as Press Secretary to President Truman.

ROGER T. SERMON AND ROGER T. SERMON, JR. PAPERS - Approximately 3600 pages. The papers of Sermon, longtime Mayor of Independence, and his son, a local civic leader, include correspondence and printed material relating to Harry S. Truman. MARY JANE TRUMAN PAPERS - Approximately 800 pages. Includes documents concerning the Truman family and farm in Grandview. Mary Jane was the sister of Harry S. Truman.

[Top of the Page ]

FEDERAL RECORDS

RECORD GROUP 64: RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION - Approximately 28,000 pages. The records of the Harry S. Truman Library include correspondence from the Library Director and other officials dating from 1957 to 1971, and material relating to President Truman's funeral.

RECORD GROUP 338: RECORDS OF U.S. ARMY COMMANDS - Approximately 3200 pages. The records of the U.S. Fifth Army contain information on President Truman's funeral in Independence in December 1972.

[ Top of the Page ]

ORAL HISTORIES

GAYLON BABCOCK. Banker and friend of Harry S. Truman. Approximately 115 pages.

HENRY P. CHILES. Friend of the Truman family. Approximately 91 pages.

MARGARET TRUMAN DANIEL. Daughter of Harry S. Truman. Approximately 63 pages.

TOM L. EVANS. Kansas City businessman and friend of Harry S. Truman. Approximately 771 pages.

SUE GENTRY. Reporter, Independence Examiner. Approximately 35 pages.

STERLING E. GODDARD. Grandview friend of the Truman family. Approximately 55 pages.

ESTHER GRUBE. Grandview friend of the Truman family. Approximately 50 pages. RUBY JANE HALL. Grandview friend of the Truman family. Approximately 69 pages. MARY PAXTON KEELEY. Journalist and friend of the President and Mrs. Truman. Approximately 58 pages. MRS. FRANCIS H. MONTGOMERY. Grandview friend of the Truman family. Approximately 66 pages. MARY ETHEL NOLAND. Cousin of Harry S. Truman. Approximately 213 pages.

MIZE PETERS. Independence friend of the President and Mrs. Truman. Approximately 78 pages.

STEPHEN S. SLAUGHTER. Grandview neighbor and acquaintance of the Truman family. Approximately 105 pages.

JOHN J. STRODE. Grandview friend of the Truman family. Approximately 85 pages.

MARTHA ANN SWOYER. Niece of Harry S. Truman. Approximately 62 pages.

FRED L. TRUMAN. Nephew of Harry S. Truman. Approximately 72 pages.

MARY JANE TRUMAN. Sister of Harry S. Truman. Approximately 78 pages.

REGINA VANATTA. Grandview friend of the Truman family. Approximately 48 pages.

MAY WALLACE. Sister-in-law and neighbor of the President and Mrs. Truman. Approximately 95 pages.

ROBERT P. WEATHERFORD, JR.. Mayor of Independence. Approximately 51 pages.

PAUL "MIKE" WESTWOOD. Member of the Independence Police Department; chauffeur and bodyguard for former President Truman. Approximately 23 pages.

MAXINE WILLIAMS. Tenant on the Truman family farm, Grandview, Missouri. Approximately 24 pages.

KEITH WILSON, JR. City Manager of Independence and acquaintance of Harry S. Truman. Approximately 42 pages.

ROBERT B. WYATT. Grandview friend of the Truman family. Approximately 65 pages.

• Back to the top of the page
• Return to the Archival Research page
• Return to Truman Library home page